DECONTAMINATION STILL LAGS

Thank God there were no chem­i­cal weapons used in Iraq. Because the U.S. Army is still using toxic, 40 year-​​old agents to decon­t­a­m­i­nate sol­diers and their gear, National Defense reports.

Decontamination agents in use today, such as high test hypochlo­rite (HTH), super trop­i­cal bleach (STB) and decon­t­a­m­i­na­tion solu­tion 2 (DS-​​2)… can dam­age equip­ment, pol­lute the envi­ron­ment and cause per­sonal injury, accord­ing to experts. Many of them also are flam­ma­ble and, there­fore, cant be used on ships, new high-​​performance air­craft and non-​​hardened equipment. 

The Pentagon has pro­posed $52 mil­lion for decon­t­a­m­i­nant research in 2004. One of the ideas being exam­ined: a group of enzymes that could wipe out both chem­i­cal weapons, like nerve agents, and bio­log­i­cal threats, like anthrax spores. According to a paper pub­lished by the Armys Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, “cat­alytic enzymes are highly effi­cient, detox­i­fy­ing many times their own weight of agent in sec­onds or min­utes.“
The enzymes are, sup­ps­edly, non-​​corrosive, non-​​flammable and envi­ron­men­tally safe, too. According to National Defense, the enzymes would come as a dried pow­der, to be added to a water-​​based spray or foam system.

June 2nd, 2003 | Uncategorized | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.